


Something More

by yoonggggi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, M/M, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Panic Attacks, Recreational Drug Use, There are some happy things in here I promise, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:10:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15344553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoonggggi/pseuds/yoonggggi
Summary: Never feeling like you belong has become something Albus Potter is accustomed to. With Hogwarts starting and his anxiety getting worse Albus is convinced that he will never escape the shadow of his father. This conviction is validated when he is sorted into Slytherin. Though maybe this will finally be where Albus belongs, in the shadows for good this time. But Scorpius Malfoy is determined to make Albus shine just as brightly to the rest of the world as he does to him. Albus is definitely not ready for Hogwarts.Follow Albus through seven years of Hogwarts involving way too many feelings, friends, secrets, a whole lot of debauchery, and maybe just a little bit of finding yourself.





	Something More

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fan fiction I have ever published so I hope it goes well! I have loved Harry Potter for pretty much as long as I can remember so I hope some of that shows through this work, if only just a little bit.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own all my OCs and part of this first chapter is from J.K. Rowling's Nineteen Years Later epilogue

The day was here, it was finally here. The smoke whirled around Albus’s head like some sort of sick crown while his heart pounded loudly in his ribcage. He was sweating and dizzy and felt like he was going to throw up.

“I’m going to throw up,” Albus announced to his family who were saying goodbye to James.

“Don’t be such a whiny fucker Albus,” James said ducking Ginny’s thump to the head, “If you throw up you’ll forever be known as the The Boy Who Threw Up. Though personally, it is an improvement upon The Boy Who Lived.” He said ducking Ginny’s blow again and retreating towards the train.

“I don’t know where the boy learns those Muggle curse words. I’m not going to let him hang out with those boys from the village next summer.” Ginny sighed.

“Oh er, you’re right Ginny, it was those village boys.” Harry and Albus exchanged a glance as he said that, both of them knowing full well that Harry had been the one to let it slip a couple of times.

Albus’s family, as they often did (when they weren’t causing them) had distracted him from his nerves so he had a chance to focus on the other kids on the platform. Albus was pretty sure that half of the people here were his family, but even he was unsure; there was just so many of them. A platinum blonde head caught his eye in the sea of redheads and smoke. Merlin, was that….Scorpius Malfoy? Albus opened his mouth to say something to Harry, but James suddenly barreled back into the group and made Albus fall with a surprised shout into Rose. She was sourly pushing him off her when James caught his breath.

He had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam."Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy  
what he was doing --"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron --"

"-- and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry "Why don't we just invite him to live with is and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al--Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville--"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . ."  
Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"  
but James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the  
carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny kissed Albus good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes.  
"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say--"

"--then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

Albus’s head spun with that new piece of advice as Harry held him close to his chest, the nausea somewhat settled.

“Now go, before you miss the train! We’ll see you soon! Don’t forget to write, you know how you can worry your mother.”

The train whistle blows and Albus just manages to give Ginny a hug and lug his trunk up onto the train before it pulls out of the station. Rose appears suddenly with Fred and James directing them like cattle to pick up the trunk and put it overhead in the compartment that is already packed to the brim with nearly the whole family only Victorie and Teddy were missing and they were probably off snogging somewhere. Rose is the only one in the family that has any control over James and Fred, Albus thinks she scares them. She can be wicked evil when she wants to be. Albus hops up onto the seat and wedges himself between Louis and James and immediately regretted that decision.

“Mate, move over! Your elbow is digging into my stomach!” James said to Louis while squirming around in his seat.

“My elbow? That’s Albus’s elbow!”Louis exclaimed while trying to make more room for himself.

“Oh come on, I barely take up any space at all! Where else was I supposed to sit anyway?” I complained.

In order to make more space for themselves, James and Louis pushed Albus off the seat and he landed in an undignified heap on the floor of the compartment. Albus was ready to climb up there and tell Louis and James off, or better yet complain to Rose, that would teach them. However, once he saw a pumpkin pasty next to Rose’s shoe he decided to stay on the floor. It was quieter down here anyway. 

The pumpkin pasty melted in his mouth and made up for the fact that James was an asshole, but it wasn’t long before he got that weird feeling in his stomach again. It had been happening for a few months now, ever since Harry and Ginny started seriously talking about what life at Hogwarts was going to be like. It kinda starts out as butterflies and then morphs into a full on tsunami if Albus can’t calm down. 

Once, Albus had run out to get Ginny some milk from the market in town, and a reporter for Witches Weekly had stopped him in the middle of the town center and had asked me what class he was most excited for at Hogwarts and after running away he had threw up in the bushes behind the ice cream shop. That was the worst episode Albus had ever experienced. He hasn’t told anyone yet, he knows that James would make fun of him, and Harry, well, he would try but he wouldn’t understand. Why would he, after all he was the chosen one, immune to bouts of anxiety and random throw up attacks.

That thought surprised him, though it really shouldn’t have. He thought as the last of the pumpkin pasty melted in his mouth. That had been happening for a while too, the bitterness. The best method he had found for dealing with it was choking it down and not telling anyone. Deep down Albus knows it’s not healthy to keep it bottled up but who was he going to tell? Lilly? She’s too young to understand, and Ginny is too busy to talk too. Merlin, Albus loves them, but he just couldn’t. How could he with them being the main source of his panic.

Albus brushed the crumbs from around his mouth and pushed himself up from the floor, his hands shaky. All of this introspection was not good for him he concluded as he shoved open the compartment door, his family not even noticing he was leaving as they all shouted about their summers and how amazing Hogwarts was going to be. 

The hallway stood in stark relief to the loud compartment. he wandered down the hallway with one hand shoved in his old jeans while the other held a book that he had snatched from Rose’s pile on the floor. After pushing past a group of giggling girls who had started at him awestruck, he finally found an empty compartment.

“Oh hello,” a surprised voice rang out “I’m afraid that this compartment is already quite full so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Albus turned to his right, there was only one person on the entire compartment, Scorpius Malfoy. His jaw kinda dropped open as he stared in disbelief, this was the son of the guy Uncle Ron had ranted about for so long? He looked normal enough, I guess he hadn’t inherited the rat face and his blonde hair wasn’t slimy, in fact it looked light and silky.

“Would you please stop staring and leave? I told you already that this compartment is fully occupied.” Scorpius said an annoyed look crossing his delicate features.

Albus’s jaw snapped closed with a loud click and I gathered myself, “Well, it doesn’t look full. May I join you?”

“Can’t you listen? I said it was full, and in case you’re thick or something, that means I don’t want you to be here.” Scorpius wrapped himself up in his dark sweater, and shoved a cockroach cluster into his mouth.

“You like cockroach clusters?” Albus said surprised, “Nobody likes cockroach clusters.”

“Well I do, and if you don’t leave I’m going to shove it up your ass.” Scorpius said angrily.

That surprised a laugh out Albus, Uncle Ron was going to be so mad when he found out that we were friends. He flopped down on the seat across from Scorpius and let out a long sigh, the tension melting out of him.

“Why did you laugh? I’m not trying to be funny, I’m just trying to get you to leave.” Scorpius said to Albus.

“Well I’m sitting down now, so you’re not going to get me to go anywhere for awhile.”

“Look, I know who you are. My father will be furious if he finds out I’m talking to you.”

“That’s too bad for your father I guess, because we’re going to be friends.” I said confidently

A wary look crossed Scorpius’s face and I could see him thinking about what I had said. Merlin, had I over calculated? Where had that confidence come from? I bit my lip as I watched Scorpius think.

“Why do you want to be friends with me? Better yet, why would I want to be friends with you?” Scorpius asked.

“You’re funny!” Albus said bolting straight up in his seat, “Look you might think my family is funny, like there must be at least one funny person out of all of us. But there isn’t, nobody gets my humor! All they care about is Quidditch. But you’re funny, the fact that you said that you would “shove that cockroach cluster up my ass” is impressive at its very least!” He laughed a little as he repeated the words and watched as Scorpius tilted his head to look at Albus carefully.

“I was trying to be threatening…” He said

“Well you weren’t, so do you want to be friends?” Albus said holding out his hand. He was nervous, he had never actually made a friend before, he hoped that this was how it worked. His family was all he had ever really had. his palm started to sweat after Scorpius didn’t reach out for a couple of seconds.

“Yeah, I guess I do. You’re actually the only person to talk to me since I got on this train and I promised my Mum I would try to make friends. Screw father, you actually seem pretty cool, and only a little bit scruffy.” Scorpius said as he reached out and shook Albus’s hand.

Scorpius’s hand was cool and Albus could feel each of the bones in his hand. Their skin tones stood out from each other, Albus’s a light brown and Scorpius’s a pale white. Albus realized he had been holding on for a bit too long, blushed and quickly dropped Scorpius’s hand. 

“Ya know….I actually like cockroach clusters too.” He said smiling at Scorpius.

“Yeah?” Scorpius replied.

“Yeah.”

**************************  
******************************************************

 

“Hagrid retired a couple of years ago, he used to be the one to take the first years over. Dad says that a women called Professor Canehill does it now.” Albus shouted to Scorpius as they stepped off the train and onto the platform.

“Who’s Hagrid?” Scorpius said.

“Only the best person ever! He was the old groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher here and he’s half giant and he’s coming to my house for Christmas!” Albus yelled over the loud chatter of the other students.

Scorpius scrunched up his nose as they pushed through the crowd towards Professor Canehill’s shrill voice, their robes flapping in the wind, “Wait, half-giant? You’re friends with a half-giant?”

Albus stopped and turned around, “Come on Scorpius, I would hate to not be friends with you over an issue as trivial as this.”

They had finally elbowed enough people to make it to Professor Canehill and Scorpius and Albus started to climb into one of the boats. Across the platform he saw James with his arms crossed and a glare on his face staring at Albus while Scorpius struggled to make it into the boat. He shook off his gaze and started to look for Rose. He found her at the other end of the boats, sitting with a girl with dirty blonde hair and, like James, staring at him with a disapproving look. The butterflies reappeared in his stomach as Scorpius helped him onto the boat’s bench, Albus was suddenly uneasy. Was being friends with Scorpius really that wrong?

They had finally made it into the huge entrance hall and were waiting outside of big double doors when a women in a fancy blue robes walked up, she had steel gray hair and wrinkled skin and for some reason looked very familiar. Across the crowd I saw Rose excitedly gesturing to the blonde haired girl she had been talking with earlier when the women began to talk.

“Good evening first years, I am Headmistress Butterworth. The sorting will commence shortly. When your name is called please go up to the stand and put the hat on, do not be afraid. Oh and, welcome to Hogwarts.” Headmistress Butterworth turned and opened the doors.

It was nothing like he had ever seen before, it felt as though Albus had been punched in the chest. Scorpius and Albus exchanged excited glances as they went up the walkway. He couldn’t believe it, he was finally here. Sure he had been nervous earlier today, but that all seemed so far away now. 

His neck was still craned upwards to the night sky ceiling when the new first years came to a halt and he bumped into the girl in front of me. She turned around to face him, probably to tell me off, he thought, but she stopped when she realized who he was. She was very pretty, with dark skin and eyes and jet black hair. Her eyes had widened a bit when she had recognized me, but her jaw really dropped when she saw Scorpius. Only the first name that was called in the sorting, “Allain, Jacob”, made her break her stare. 

Albus glanced over at Scorpius relieved that that attention hadn’t been on him for once, yet confused on why they would focus on him. 

He gave me a sort of a half smile, but his face was pale and he was chewing on his bottom lip. Albus started to ask why that girl had stared at him but before he could, Scorpius let out a hushed whisper, “You’re lucky you have lots of family to let you know what Hogwarts is going to be like. I only have father and mother and father’s a stickler for tradition, he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah I guess I am, but they all expect me to go to Gryffindor. My dad says he doesn’t care what house I’m in but I know deep down, he does.”

“Me too, my father will be so disappointed if I don’t get into Slytherin.” Scorpius replied chewing at his bottom lip so furiously I noticed a smear of blood on his teeth.

“Lilander, May: Ravenclaw”

Cheers erupted from the table as the new student joined them.

“Malfoy, Scorpius” 

Scorpius wiped his mouth and straightened his robes “Wish me luck.”

Then he was off, walking briskly up the steps. The hat spent about three minutes on him, one of the longer times of the nights, and Albus spent the time observing the teachers. He had finally remembered where I knew Headmistress Butterworth from, the Potter Christmas party!

Now that Albus thought about it about half of the teachers up there had been at the party. Which just meant that they talked to dad regularly, great. It was going to be like having five extra Professor Longbottoms. 

The Sorting hat shook Albus out of his thoughts with the fate of Scorpius, “Malfoy, Scorpius” there was a sharp intake of breath around the Great Hall “Slytherin”.

Even from where Albus was standing with the remaining first years he could see Scorpius’s smile. He rushed over to the table to be greeted with thumps on the back. Albus was so focused on him, he didn’t even realize that his name was being called.

“Potter, Albus” Headmistress Butterworth bellowed for what have must have been the second time. His face immediately became hot under the curious stares of all the students. Rose who was still waiting to be sorted, gave him a little push to the stool with the hat on top of it. He stumbled over and practically shoved the hat on his head.

“Mmmmh very nice, very nice. You have a strong desire to prove yourself and stand out, yet you let your anxiety control you. You have potential, great potential. I’m going to-” The hat muttered in his ear.

“Wait!” Albus whispered desperately “Can you put me in Gryffindor? Please? My dad said that you would listen to me!”

“I’m sorry, I often do, but I can’t with you. Gryffindor would be a mistake, you belong in SLYTHERIN!”

The announcement rang through the whole hall. All Albus could see when he was taking the hat off and walking over to his new seat next to Scorpius was his family’s astonished faces and Albus knew that the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t be going away for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave kudos and comments! I'm not sure when the next update will be, probably in the next two weeks or so. Thank you for reading!


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